Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a emitting and receiving process technology, particularly to a processing system and a processing method for receiving and exciting focused ultrasound.
Description of the Related Art
The blood brain barrier (BBB) is a filter selectively retarding some materials from entering the brain, functioning like a brain health guard. The blood brain barrier of a healthy person can normally protect the brain strictly. If the brain of a person should be infected by viruses or bacteria, it indicates that the person has some problems in health and needs appropriate rest or even medical inspection. Since the blood brain barrier is very compact, medicine from external blood circulation cannot effectively enter into the local brain for therapy.
Nowadays, focused ultrasound (FUS) exposure with microbubbles can be used to temporarily enhance the permeability of central nervous system (CNS) capillary. Currently, the greatest limitation for the clinical translation of FUS induced local CNS capillary permeability increase is the lack of a real-time technique for monitoring the delivery of FUS to the subject. CNS Capillary permeability increase can be evaluated using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Such methods cannot control energy of ultrasound but only determine whether to enhance permeability of local CNS capillary. As a result, the backscattered ultrasound emission signals resulted from FUS exposures and circulating microbubbles are used to monitor a therapy behavior. The reflected harmonics formed by circulating microbubbles is proved to serve as a target of a therapy result. In the conventional technology, the harmonics or ultra-harmonics is used as an index to monitor a therapy behavior, namely a received signal whose frequency is higher than frequency of the delivered ultrasound. In order to receive the backscattered acoustic emissions with high frequency, the conventional technology almost uses a wideband hydrophone as a receiving terminal of ultrasound reflected. However, the hydrophone has a small receiving area and receives the backscattered acoustic emissions whose energy is limited and sensitivity to identify the emission source is low. Accordingly, the hydrophone is installed at a position of the acoustic reflection path, wherein the backscattered acoustic emissions has the strongest energy at the position. In order to receive and emit signals synchronously, a synchronization signal is added. The installation position of the hydrophone has to slightly be adjusted according to different therapy behaviors.
To overcome the abovementioned problems, the present invention provides a processing system and a processing method for confocally emitting and receiving ultrasound, so as to solve the afore-mentioned problems of the prior art.